Rape victims from North-East flee Delhi

Shunned by neighbours people and also by people of their own community, the victims had no option but to leave the city, said Madhu Chandra, spokesperson of North-East Support Centre and Helpline in Delhi.

“All such victims face discrimination at home as well as workplace, apart from having to suffer lewd comments,” said Chandra, citing the example of the most sensational abduction-cum-gangrape of a 30-year-old call centre executive at Dhaula Kuan on November 24 last year

“In around 40 instances of crime against women in the past two years, the police refused to register a case when the victims approached them,” Chandra alleged. And the government’s assurances of relief and rehabilitation remained mere promises. “We approached the government many times seeking rehabilitation of the victims, but no steps were taken,” he said.

Initially, the victims try to cope with their trauma and agony and within a few months, they break down and leave the unforgiving city.

“Like the Dhaula Kuan rape victim, all others too from the contiguous Northeastern states known as Seven Sisters - Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim - called it left after finding neither understanding nor support from neighbours and associates, said Chandra.

Changing residence and workplace makes it worse. The victims gradually get isolated. “Women from the Northeast feel very vulnerable here,” said Chandra.

According to figures provided by the Support Centre, of the total 63 cases of crime against women in last five years - including five rapes, five attempt to rape and 38 molestation cases - all ten victims of rape or attempt to rape returned home without fulfilling their dream of availing higher education or jobs.

Mamta Sharma, chairperson of National Commission for Women, said: “It is sad to know that rape victims had to leave the city. But they never approached us. We generally provide shelters, counselling and rehabilitation programmes for the victims.”

She admitted that victims of rape need a certain level of protection until they are capable of returning to normal life. “Whenever any kind of sexual harassment happens at the workplace, we generally approach the institution and initiate action against the culprits,” she claimed.